1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to charging devices, and more particularly to a remotely monitorable multi-port charging device that is able to charge multiple electronic devices simultaneously, to show real-time charging states, to receive remote setting for charging currents, and to transmit data.
2. Related Art
Portable electronics are widely used in every level of our daily life. Taking data-accessing applications for example, the heavy printed documents can now be saved electronically for convenient and rapid access anytime, anywhere by using such as e-books, tablet computers, notebooks, smart phones and so on. These electronics are generally powered by rechargeable batteries contained therein.
For leveraging the advantage of portable electronics, many schools and organizations have replaced the traditional printed books with some of the above-mentioned devices, and particularly, with e-books. It is known that e-books need to be charged once a day if not more frequently for continuous operation. In a school scenario, it is more preferable to charge students' e-books simultaneously, for example, after school. However, it is often seen that the e-books are left overnight with the charger connected thereto and since the traditional charger is typically unable to tell whether the battery in the connected e-book is fully charged, electric current keeps running between the charger and the e-book (or a different electronic devices, such as a tablet computer) as long as they are connected. Such a charging practice, over time, can cause damage to the components in the e-book and shorten the service life of the e-book, and can also be harmful to the charger itself. In addition, the conventional chargers are only capable of charging and provide no means for data transmission between e-books and other electronic devices. For data transmission, a user has to remove the charger from the e-book and then connect other means to the e-book, thus being inconvenient. Furthermore, the traditional chargers only charge in a single mode, and is not capable of adapting its charging to the current power level of the e-book or electronic device it charges, thus causing the risk of over-charging or losing time in unnecessary charging.
While a multi-port charger has been disclosed for simultaneously charging plural devices, there are still needs for convenient charging unmet. The prior-art multi-port charger uses indication lights thereon to inform charging states, but when such charging is performed during after-school time or off time, as it is usually the case, a person who manage the charging has to be present at the charging site or he/she has no way to see the indication lights and know the charging states, making his/her work inconvenient and time-consuming.